Doll having collapsible torso portion with fluent material therein

ABSTRACT

A doll which is intended to simulate the motions of going to sleep characterized by a two-part torso, one part of which is made of a yieldable material. The doll also has a head with eyelid structure which is movable to close the doll eyes. Fluent material, preferably in the form of sand, is provided in the interior of the doll and may be fed from the lower portion of the doll to the upper portion of the doll, following which the material will be metered slowly back to the lower portion of the doll during which the doll body will appear to slowly collapse and the eyelid structure will close, simulating the function of going to sleep.

willie States Patent 1 1 Morrison 1 Sept. 11, 1973 l l DOLL HAVINGCOLLAPSIBLE TORSO PORTION WITH FLUENT MATERIAL THEREIN [75] Inventor:Howard J. Morrison, Highland Park,

[21] Appl. No.: 214,075

Henry 46/87 Yaggy 46/42 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 484,592 10/1929Germany 46/87 Primary Examiner-F. Barry Shay Att0rney.lames F. Coffee etal.

[5 7] ABSTRACT A doll which is intended to simulate the motions of goingto sleep characterized by a two-part torso, one part of which is made ofa yieldable material. The doll also has a head with eyelid structurewhich is movable to close the doll eyes. Fluent material, preferably inthe form of sand, is provided in the interior of the doll and may be fedfrom the lower portion of the doll to the upper portion of the doll,following which the material will be metered slowly back to the lowerportion of the doll during which the doll body will appear to slowlycollapse and the eyelid structure will close, simulating the function ofgoing to sleep.

6 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTEI] SEP] 1 I975 SHEET 1 or 2ATTORNEYS PAIENTEU 1 75 SHEET 2 [IF 2 mob INVENTOE QOP NO" DOLL HAVINGCOLLAPSIBLE TORSO PORTION WITH FLUENT MATERIAL THEREIN BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION lv Field of the Invention This invention relates to movablefigure toys, and more particularly, to a doll which simulates themovements of going to sleep.

2. Brief Description of the Prior Art In the movable figure toy art,there are many forms of dolls which perform different simulated humanfunctions. Dolls which simulate walking or crying or talking or the likeprovide increased fascination for children. Specifically, the artincludes the disclosure of dolls wherein the function of closing theeyelids is simulated through the aid of a fluent material, as disclosedin the Fuerst Pat. No. 2,633,663 and Ellman Pat. No. 2,883,794. However,these patents merely show structure which tends to close the eyelid andnot completely simulate the act of falling asleep. Accordingly, it isthe object of this invention to provide an improved movable figure dollwherein the doll body, as well as the doll eyes, simulate the motion ofgoing to sleep.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention is directed, in brief, to theprovision of an improved movable figure toy which simulates the motionsof falling asleep.

The best mode currently contemplated for carrying out the invention,includes the provision of a doll having a generally rigid lower torso,with a hollow interior, and a yieldable upper torso with a hollowinterior, with the upper and lower torso being in communication by wayof a two-way valve arrangement. The valve arrangement is such that whenthe doll is turned upside down a large valve opening is created betweenthe lower and upper torso, whereas when the doll is turned right sideup, there is a small opening between the two chambers. Fluent material,preferably in the form of sand, is provided in the interior of the dollbody.

The doll further includes a head having movable eyelid structure whichis biased to an open position, but having depending weight means incommunication with the upper torso, such that when the upper torso isevacuated, the weight means pull the eyelids to a closed position.

In use, as the doll is placed upright, after being turned upside down tofeed fluent material for the upper torso, fluent material will slowlyevacuate from the upper torso causing the eyelids to close and the uppertorso to collapse until the doll tips over and simulates the motion offalling asleep.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showingthe doll being turned upside down to feed fluent material from the lowertorso to the upper torso;

FIG. 2 is a view showing the doll being placed upright so that fluentmaterial may slowly feed from the upper torso to the lower torso;

FIG. 3 is a view showing the doll starting to fall over towards asleeping position;

FIG. 4 is a view showing the doll in a sleeping position;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary enlarged view through the doll torso and headwith the components upside down showing the action of feeding fluentmaterial from the lower torso to the upper torso;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5, but with the doll shown rightside upand with fluent material beginning to reversely feed from the uppertorso back to the lower torso;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6, showing the initiation of collapseof the upper portion of the doll torso as fluent material continues tofeed to the lower torso;

FIG. 8 is a section view taken generally along the line 8-8 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a section view taken generally along the line 99 of FIG. 6;and

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the eyelid assembly utilized with thedoll of this invention.

While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many differentforms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described indetail a specific embodiment therefor, with the understanding that thepresent disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of theprinciples of the invention and is not intended to limit the inventionto the embodiment illustrated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The doll 10 of thisinvention includes head 12 having simulated facial features, including amouth 14, nose 16, eyes 18, eyelids 20, cars 22 and hair 24. Asdescribed later in detail, the eyelids 20 are intended to be movablewith respect to the eyes 18, between an open and closed position. Head12 is secured to a torso 26 illustrated in FIGS. 5 through 7, thestructure of which will be explained later in detail. In the preferredembodiment, it is intended that the head and torso structure would beheld inside an outer garment 28 which contains arms 30 and 32 and legs34 and 36, both of which would be stuffed with a suitable material togive rigidity thereto so that in the specific arrangement shown, arms 30and 32 and legs 34 and 36 could be articulated to the torso 26 in amanner well known in the art.

Torso 26 includes a lower torso portion 38 which is preferably made of asubstantially rigid material, defining a hollow chamber 40 in theinterior thereof for receiving fluent material, such as sand 41. Lowertorso 38 is provided with annular ribs 42 about the upper end thereofand further includes a depending circumsurrounding side wall 44terminating in a substantially flat bottom 46. However, one portion ofthe bottom 46 is tapered upwardly at 48 to assist in initiating ainterior of lower torso 38 includes a valve member support web 50 forsupporting the movable valve member 52. Valve web 50 includes arms 50a,50b and 50c, which terminate in a center ring 54, having an opening 56therein, of a size and shape to slidably receive the cylindrical bodyportion 58 of valve member 52. The lower end of valve member 52 has awasher or pin 60 thereon for preventing movement of the valve member 52towards the head, through the web 50. The other end, or upper end, ofthe valve member is generally conical shaped, as shown at 62, and acenter passage 64 extends through the body of the valve member 52 in agenerally upright direction. The conical portion 62 of the valve member52 rests in an enlarged opening 66 in the top wall of the lower torso38. In addition, the top wall 68 is provided with a pair of smallopenings 70a and 70b, spaced from the enlarged opening 66. The enlargedopening 66, and the relatively movable mounting of the valve member 52with respect to the openings 66, defines a means for feeding a largequantity of fluent material out of the lower torso in a relatively shortperiod of time. The relatively reduced passage 64 through the valve body58 and the small openings 70a and 70b in the top wall 68 define a meansfor return feeding of a small amount of fluent material into the torso38 over a limited period of time. The medial portion of the bottom 46 ispreferably provided with an air vent opening 72 having a flap cover 74thereover, preferably made of a porous material which permits thepassage of air therethrough but prevents the egress of fluent material41.

The doll further includes an upper torso portion 76 which generallycomprises a substantially cylindrical body of collapsible material 78,preferably in the form of a vinyl or the like. Body 78 defines aninterior upper torso chamber 80, which is in communication with thelower torso chamber 40 through the aforementioned valve passages 64 or66. The top of the collapsible cylinder 78 is retained within an uppercover 82 which ineludes a depending annular skirt 84 having an. inwardlyreturned shoulder 86, terminating in an upright sleeve 88 having a topwall 90 thereacross. The sleeve 88 protrudes inwardly into the head 12of the doll. The top wall 90 has a center opening 92 therein and a web94 is spaced below the top wall 92 and has an opening 96 therethrough.The remaining lower portion of the sleeve 88 defines an expansionchamber 98 for the extensible portion 100 of the collapsible upper torso76.

The interior of the cover 82 has an annular groove 102 for receiving anexpansion ring 104 having fingers 106 which are connected with a valvedevice or flow plate 108 which closely underlies the top of collapsiblecylinder 78 and, particularly, the sleeve portion 88. As shown in FIG.8, the flow plate 108 has a plurality of small openings 110circumferentially arranged around its center which has a larger centeropening 112, with radiating slots 114 which provides a means for feedingfluent material to and from either side of the flow plate The exteriorof the sleeve 88 has an outwardly projecting annular flange 116 snuglyreceived in a groove 118 at the bottom of the heat structure 12, toprovide a means for rotatably mounting the head with respect to theremainder of the body by hand manipulation.

An eye assembly support bracket 120 is secured in the interior of thehead 12 and is generally U-shaped, having a central web 120a andrearwardly extending arms lb and 120e, which terminate in offsetextensions 120b' and 1200'. The central web 120a of eye support bracket120 includes rearwardly facing sockets 122a and 122b and openings 124aand 124b. Eyes 18 are held in the sockets 122a and 122b and the lids 20are connected thereto, with both the lids and eyes being movablerelative to the sockets.

An eye actuating plate 126 extends rearwardly from the bracket 120 andis generally C-shaped in configuration, having a base 126a and forwardlyextending arms i26b and 1260 which are connected to the rear of the eyes18 through the rear of sockets 122a and l22b. The eye support bracket120 further includes a biasing means 128, here shown in the form of arubber band, wrapped around the extensions 120!) and 1206 which normallybiases the actuating plate upwardly, 126,

when the eyes 18 appear open, that is, viewable through the openings124a and 12422.

The plate 126 includes a rearward extension 130 which supports a linkmeans, here shown in the form of a chain 132. The chain 132 is connectedat its opposite ends to a pair of weights 134 which generally dangle inthe area of the sleeve 88. When the extension 100 of the upper torso 76is filled with fluent material, as shown in FIG. 5, the chain 132 willbe slack and the weights 134 will be held well up in the expansionchamber 98. As the fluent material is evacuated, the extension 100 willno longer support the weights 134, and, as progressively shown in FIGS.6 and 7, the chain will become taut and tend to pull the actuating plate126 against the biasing force of the rubber band 128, causing the eyes18 to be pulled downwardly and the lids 20 to close the openings 124aand 12417.

In operation, doll 10 is first turned upside down, as shown in FIGS. 1and 5, so that the fluent material 41 may move rapidly from the interiorchamber 40 of lower torso 38 to the collapsible interior chamber ofupper torso 76. Specifically, the material moves through the web 50 andenlarged opening 66 in the top panel 68 of the lower torso as the valvemember 52 moves downwardly or towards the doll head 12. Extension of theupper chamber 80 will also be filled, occupying the expansion space 98in sleeve 88, and hold ing weights 94 upwardly, so that no tension isexerted upon the chain 132 and the eyes will be normally hiased to theiropen position.

After the interior chamber 80 of the collapsible top 78 is filled, thedoll can then be placed right side up, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6 and 7.The fluent material 41 will then slowly begin draining out of theextension 100 through the openings and 112 and also out of the interiorchamber 80 of the collapsible upper torso 78. However, the discharge ofthe material from the extension 100 will be a faster rate than from theinterior chamber 80, in that there are a greater number of openings 110than the small openings 64 and 70a and 70b between the upper and lowertorso. As the extension 100 collapses, the weights 134 will pull on thechain 132, causing the eyes to slowly close. This will occur at aboutthetime that some of the fluent material has left the interior of the upperchamber and drained into the lower chamber so that the upper torsoappears to begin to sag. it is to be noted that the openings 70a and 70b are over the area of the tapered portion 48 of the bottom 46 of thelower torso 38. As the material continues to flow out of the uppertorso, the doll body will continue to sag, as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and7, and then slowly begin to tilt towards the tapered portion 48. Thismovement will continue to occur until substan tially all the fluentmaterial 41 is returned to the lower torso, during which, final movementof the doll to a collapsed position on its side, as shown in MG. 4, willoccur.

Thus, it can be seen that the doll of this invention is capable of asimulation of the act of falling asleep. The action of the closing ofthe eyelids and the collapsing of the doll is accomplished without theneed for any motors and related sources of power such as batteries orsprings or the like. Thus, the doll is both reliable in operation overan extended period of time, as well as relatively economical to produce,thereby enhancing its desirability.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness ofunderstanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understoodtherefrom, as some modifications may be obvious to those skilled in theart.

I claim:

1. An animated doll comprising:

means defining a torso having a head supported thereon and includingupper and lower torso portions, at least said upper torso portion beingunevenly collapsible relative to the lower torso portion to cause thedoll to tilt;

means for supporting said doll with its torso in an erect position;

means defining an upper chamber within said upper torso portion;

means defining a lower chamber within said lower torso portion;

said means for supporting the doll including fluent material in saiddoll receivable in said upper chamber, said fluent material beingsufficient in quantity to support the collapsible torso portion whenoccupying said chamber; and

passage means between the two chambers for allowing the fluent materialto pass therebetween under the influence of gravity when said doll torsois in erect position with said fluent material in said upper chamber,the removal of at least part of the fluent material from the upperchamber resulting in withdrawal of at least part of the support of saidupper chamber and consequent at least partial collapse of said uppertorso portion whereby a tilting or reclining motion is imparted to thedoll.

2. The doll of claim 1 wherein said head includes eye means movablebetween open and closed positions, said doll including means to open andclose said eye means in response to at least part of said fluentmaterial passing from the upper chamber to the lower chamber.

3. The doll of claim 1 wherein said means for supporting said dollincludes a bottom wall of said lower chamber, said bottom wall includinga substantially horizontal flat, normally ground-engaging base portionon which the doll is supported when the fluent material is substantiallyin the upper chamber and an upwardly canted portion joining the baseportion, with at least a portion of said passage means being closer tothe center of said canted portion than to the center of said baseportion so that when the fluent material falls into the lower chamber agreater proportion thereof will at least initially rest on the cantedportion as opposed to the base portion whereby the bottom wall will rockand impart the tilting motion to the doll.

4. The doll of claim 1 wherein said fluent material is granulated.

5. An animated doll comprising:

means defining a torso having a head supported thereon and includingupper and lower torso portions, at least said upper portion beingunevenly collapsible relative to the lower torso portion to cause thedoll to tilt;

means defining an upper chamber within said upper torso portion; meansdefining a lower chamber within said lower torso portion, said lowerchamber having a bottom wall including a substantially horizontal flat,normally ground-engaging base portion on which the doll may be supportedin erect position and an upwardly canted portion joining the baseportion;

means including a quantity of granular material receivable in the upperchamber for supporting said upper torso portion from collapsing; and

passage means between the two chambers for allowing the granularmaterial to pass therebetween under the influence of gravity, at least aportion of said passage means being disposed closer to the center of thecanted portion of the bottom wall than to the center of the base portionof the bottom wall so that the shifting of the granular material fromthe upper chamber into the lower chamber will simultaneously result inthe rocking of the bottom wall from the base portion to the cantedportion and the collapse of the upper chamber whereby a tilting orreclining motion is imparted to the doll.

6. The doll of claim 5 wherein said head includes eye means movablebetween open and closed positions, said doll including means to open andclose said eye means in response to at least part of said granularmaterial passing from the upper chamber to the lower chamber.

1. An animated doll comprising: means defining a torso having a headsupported thereon and including upper and lower torso portions, at leastsaid upper torso portion being unevenly collapsible relative to thelower torso portion to cause the doll to tilt; means for supporting saiddoll with its torso in an erect position; means defining an upperchamber within said upper torso portion; means defining a lower chamberwithin said lower torso portion; said means for supporting the dollincluding fluent material in said doll receivable in said upper chamber,said fluent material being sufficient in quantity to support thecollapsible torso portion when occupying said chamber; and passage meansbetween the two chambers for allowing the fluent material to passtherebetween under the influence of gravity when said doll torso is inerect position with said fluent material in said upper chamber, theremoval of at least part of the fluent material from the upper chamberresulting in withdrawal of at least part of the support of said upperchamber and consequent at least partial collapse of said upper torsoportion whereby a tilting or reclining motion is imparted to the doll.2. The doll of claim 1 wherein said head includes eye means movablebetween open and closed positions, said doll including means to open andclose said eye means in response to at least part of said fluentmaterial passing from the upper chamber to the lower chamber.
 3. Thedoll of claim 1 wherein said means for supporting said doll includes abottom wall of said lower chamber, said bottom wall including asubstantially horizontal flat, normally ground-engaging base portion onwhich the doll is supported when the fluent material is substantially inthe upper chamber and an upwardly canted portion joining the baseportion, with at least a portion of said passage means being closer tothe center of said canted portion than to the center of said baseportion so that when the fluent material falls into the lower chamber agreater proportion thereof will at least initially rest on the cantedportion as opposed to the base portion whereby the bottom wall will rockand impart the tilting motion to the doll.
 4. The doll of claim 1wherein said fluent material is granulated.
 5. An animated dollcomprising: means defining a torso having a head supported thereon andincluding upper and lower torso portions, at least said upper portionbeing unevenly collapsible relative to the lower torso portion to causethe doll to tilt; means defining an upper chamber within said uppertorso portion; means defining a lower chamber within said lower torsoportion, said lower chamber having a bottom wall including asubstantially horizontal flat, normally ground-engaging base portion onwhich the doll may be supported in erect position and an upwardly cantedportion joining the base portion; means including a quantity of granularmaterial receivable in the upper chamber for supporting said upper torsoportion from collapsing; and passage means between the two chambers forallowing the granular material to pass therebetween under the influenceof gravity, at least a portion of said passage means being disposedcloser to the center of the canted portion of the bottom wall than tothe center of the base portion of the bottom wall so that the shiftingof the granular material from the upper chamber into the lower chamberwill simultaneously result in the rocking of the bottom wall from thebase portion to the canted portion and the collapse of the upper chamberwhereby a tilting or reclining motion is imparted to the doll.
 6. Thedoll of claim 5 wherein said head includes eye means movable betweenopen and closed positions, said doll including means to open and closesaid eye means in response to at least part of said granular materialpassing from the upper chamber to the lower chamber.